Abby Arcane
Dr. Abigail "Abby" Arcane is a scientist for the CDC working in the Epidemic Intelligence Service. Biography Early life Abby grew up in Marais, Louisiana, during which time she was best friends with Shawna Sunderland, whose parents she often regarded as her own. Two days before their graduation from high school, Abby (supposedly) killed Shawna, leading to Shawna's parents putting all of the blame on Abby. Becoming a scientist for the CDC Abby moved away from Marais to study at Emory, soon graduating and studying at medical school. After graduating from medical school, Abby found a job with the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service, during which time she was stationed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, looking to help stop a bout of hemorrhagic fever from spreading. Finding a girl with the disease, she helped the girl to safety, explaining the situation to her cautious brother. Following this, she headed back home for a possible situation in Marais. Return to Marais Returning home to find Susie Coyle in quarantine, Abby ordered everyone to begin using masks, gloves and goggles, also ordering blood samples and diaries in order to help treat her. Going in to talk to Susie, she found a piece of plant by her pillow, which she had staff investigate for contamination. She also noticed Alec Holland lurking around, before he was kicked out. Abby decided to go and investigate Susie's house, looking for her father Eddie. She was accompanied by police officer Matt Cable, who she was surprised to see. They investigated the house, looking for clues, but to no avail. Hearing the sound of wood scraping, they came across Holland, who was startled, before explaining he was only there for samples, directing them to Eddie's transformed corpse behind them. They had the body transported away, but before Abby could leave, Alec convinced her to join him at Avery Sunderland's lab, hoping for answers. Alec showed her some biological accelerant he'd found in the swamp, demonstrating it on some plant life which began to grow out of hand, killed before it could continue. Abby was taken back to the hospital, where she began performing a post-mortem on Eddie Coyle. She was eventually joined by Alec, who she gave some plant life found in Eddie's body to. He added some biological accelerant to it, and while they watched it intensely react to it, they were interrupted by Eddie's corpse being brought to life. One of the corpse's plant tendrils latched on to Abby, but Alec was able to pull her away, allowing her to run for it. Following the ordeal, they made their way to Delroy's Roadhouse, where Abby spoke to Liz Tremayne, hoping for answers as to where Eddie had been. She also ran into Maria Sunderland, who sat down for a chat, once again blaming her for Shawna's death. Abby and Alec headed out on to the swamp, finding Eddie's boat impaled on some plants. Inside it, they found a laptop and a box of biological accelerants. They took them back to the lab, testing a sample of the accelerant, in the meanwhile having a drink and talk. While Alec gave Abby the results in the hopes of helping her patients, he used the laptop to head out and hopefully find more biological accelerant. Shortly following, Abby noticed an explosion in the direction of where Alec had headed. She took a boat out, but was suddenly attacked by plant life from the swamp. Falling overboard, Abby surfaced, noticing a swamp creature behind her. Frightened, she escaped from it. Following, Abby called in Matt, who called in the rest of the police force. Sheriff Lucilia Cable got to the scene, greeting Abby before telling her to head home. Liz let Abby stay at hers, sharing a drink before she went to bed. As she woke up, Abby received a call from Harlan, who told her of the two new epidemic patients that had come in. Abby went inside, grabbing coffee, and accidentally running into Margaux, Liz's girlfriend, before they were joined by Liz herself. Against the wishes of Liz, Abby then went to talk to Avery Sunderland regarding Alec's research. Before they could talk professionally, Avery apologized for how everything had gone down, offering her a place to stay whenever she needed it. Back to business, Abby requested access to his lab, explaining the possible key to a cure for the epidemic, but he declined, citing the proprietary information within. Following this, Liz took Abby to Blue Devil Video Store, introducing her to the owner, Daniel Cassidy. He let her use his laptop, on which Alec had left some video journals, one of which spoke of her. Shortly after, Abby met with Matt, who received a tip regarding the missing Susie Coyle. They headed to the south docks, taking a boat out. They discovered game warden Vern Robitelle dying in his boat, figuring Susie to be nearby. Robi shortly died, after which Abby followed the sound of a young girl's scream. She found Susie huddled by the swamp creature from earlier. She assured Abby that it was fine, crossing a walkway to her. As they made their way back to dry land, Susie told Abby that the creature had given its name as Alec. The following morning, Abby expressed her concerns with Liz, revealing the alleged news about Alec. She headed to the hospital, where she found a new CDC had taken over, headed by Eli Troost. Annoyed, she headed down to the morgue to find Dr. Jason Woodrue examining Eddie Coyle's corpse. She went back upstairs to check in on Susie, before heading to Harlan's office. Abby quickly realized that he was sick with the disease, before he suddenly collapsed to the floor. She attempted to help, but hospital crew took over. Needing answers, she took a boat to Avery Sunderland's lab. She found a bit of information, but was interrupted by a mass of swarming bugs. A reanimated corpse crashed through a window, but before it could hurt Abby, the swamp creature crashed through the floorboards, willing it to disintegrate. Abby asked about its identity, before he confirmed that he was indeed Alec Holland. She assured him that she could find a cure for both the disease and his condition, but needed his help. Having an epiphany, Abby headed back to the hospital, where she administered 5 cc's of azathioprine and 5 cc's of leflunomide glycol to Harlan, whose vitals had been tanking. Surprisingly, it worked, and he was stabilized, leading her to instruct them to give the same to every other patient. Afterwards, she spoke to Susie, who thanked Abby for her help. Following the ordeal, Abby headed to Delroy's Roadhouse for a drink, where she ran into Matt. He convinced her to have a dance with him, to make up for a missed opportunity at prom. While they danced, Abby noticed Alec watching from afar. The following day, Abby went to visit Alec in the swamp, grabbing a tissue sample from him. She went and examined it under a microscope, noticing it to be plant tissue, but organized like animal tissue, a revelation that shocked Dr. Jason Woodrue. He offered to properly run tests on it, to which Abby agreed provided he gave full disclosure on everything he did. He went back upstairs, running into Daniel Cassidy, before talking to a recovered Susie. She then headed to Delroy's Roadhouse, where an accident had occurred. Delroy suddenly began acting strangely, brandishing his gun. Abby, Liz and Sheriff Cable managed to subdue and sedate him, but not before he scratched the sheriff. The former two visited Delroy in hospital, where he explained how he'd relived a break-in from when he was a child. Given a lead from Delroy, Abby decided to head out to Ochee Forks, discovering a lead, a key for Hotel Hesperos. Conferring with Liz, they discovered an old news story about a man acting erratically, as if stuck in his own personal nightmare. Realizing it was some sort of infection, Abby rushed to Marais Town Hall, where she found Sheriff Cable waving her gun at people. Daniel Cassidy managed to tackle her to the ground, whereupon Lucilia scratched Abby. Due to this, Abby decided to take the infection back out on to the swamps, where it belonged. She began hallucinating, but was held still by Alec. He then drew the darkness from her, putting it back in the original corpse it had begun in. Alec explained the darkness had come due to pollution of the swamp, causing it to fight back, rather than any naturally-occurring infection. Personality Abilities Appearances *"Pilot" *"Worlds Apart" *"He Speaks" *"Darkness on the Edge of Town" *"Drive All Night" *"The Price You Pay" *"Brilliant Disguise" *"Long Walk Home" *"The Anatomy Lesson" *"Loose Ends" Behind the scenes *In the DC comics, Abby Arcane is the wife of Swamp Thing and the niece of Anton Arcane. References Category:Allusions to the comics Category:Scientists